Khalaf Al Habtoor’s autobiography is the must read for any student of Dubai business and politics « ArabianMoney

For an entirely self-made businessman whose group has just been valued at $6 billion and whose other assets must be worth at least another billion, Khalaf Al Habtoor is surprisingly coy about some of the greatest moments in his long and outstandingly successful Dubai business career.

His autobiography published by Motivate Publishing this month does not even mention the sale of a 45 per cent stake in his contruction group to the Australian firm Leighton for $860 million in 2007 at the height of the Dubai building boom. Perhaps he feels this was luck rather than judgement, or maybe it is just a bit embarrassing as he remains a partner with Leighton in a construction concern now worth a lot less than it was then.

* username: rupertbu